Techdirt. Stories filed under "boondoggle"Easily digestible tech news...https://www.techdirt.com/
en-usTechdirt. Stories filed under "boondoggle"https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/td-88x31.gifhttps://www.techdirt.com/Mon, 10 Aug 2015 08:02:44 PDTShocker: Billions In Broadband Subsidies Wasted As Government Turns Blind Eye To FraudKarl Bodehttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150728/08375931774/shocker-billions-broadband-subsidies-wasted-as-government-turns-blind-eye-to-fraud.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150728/08375931774/shocker-billions-broadband-subsidies-wasted-as-government-turns-blind-eye-to-fraud.shtmlcovered at length, the United States' 2010 National Broadband Plan was a bit of a dud. It paid a lot of lip service to improving broadband competition but was hollow to its core, using politically-safe rhetoric and easily-obtainable goals to help pretend the government had a plan to fix the nation's uncompetitive broadband duopoly. But while the NBP was a show pony, the companion plan to use $7.5 billion of the Recovery Act stimulus fund to shore up last and middle mile networks was supposed to have been notably more productive.

Or not.

Of that $7.5 billion (out of the Act's $840 billion total), $3.5 billion was set aside to help improve broadband connectivity in the nation's harder to reach areas. The funds were managed by the USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), who then doled out the funds as needed to those who applied with sensible business models. But a recent report by Politico suggests that the program has what you might call a spotty success record:

"A POLITICO investigation has found that roughly half of the nearly 300 projects RUS approved as part of the 2009 Recovery Act have not yet drawn down the full amounts they were awarded. All RUS-funded infrastructure projects were supposed to have completed construction by the end of June, but the agency has declined to say whether these rural networks have been completed. More than 40 of the projects RUS initially approved never got started at all, raising questions about how RUS screened its applicants and made its decisions in the first place."

If these programs don't pull their full awarded amount by September, the awards are forfeited, and can't be used by areas that would have otherwise benefited. Of course if you've followed the broadband industry at all over the years, you might recall that these broadband gaps aren't supposed to exist in the first place. We've thrown billions upon billions in tax cuts and subsidies at incumbent companies like AT&T and Verizon over a generation, and the result has fairly consistently been broken promises, zero accountability, and a government that repeatedly makes it clear they're ok with that.

And just like these programs of old, the RUS broadband effort threw money around without actually knowing where it was going:

"We are left with a program that spent $3 billion,” Mark Goldstein, an investigator at the Government Accountability Office, told POLITICO, “and we really don’t know what became of it."

And here's the kicker: the Politico report doesn't even highlight some of the worst fraud seen in the program. Earlier this year we noted how West Virginia was the poster child for this program's dysfunction, with Verizon, Cisco and Frontier convincing the state to spend millions in broadband subsidies on over-powered, unused routers, redundant, useless consultants, and "upgrades" that appear to have benefited nobody. The state then buried a consultant's report highlighting how companies and state leaders engaged in systemic, statewide fraud on the taxpayer dime. Nothing much has happened since.

While the continued failures of broadband subsidies will be used as an example that broadband subsidies don't work, they're more an example of how we're utterly unwilling to fix campaign finance reform. Spending and tracking this money shouldn't have been all that hard; we just aren't willing to clean up a political system beholden to unaccountable giants before throwing billions of dollars into its angry maw. Meanwhile, when you have armies of politicians consistently and proudly running on the platform that government can never work, the fruit of this labor can't be all that much of a surprise.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>dysfunction-junctionhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20150728/08375931774Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:26:00 PSTAnatomy Of A Boondoggle: How The US Broadband Plan Led To WV Buying $20,000 Routers For A One Room LibraryMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130225/18080522110/anatomy-boondoggle-how-us-broadband-plan-led-to-wv-buying-20000-routers-one-room-library.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130225/18080522110/anatomy-boondoggle-how-us-broadband-plan-led-to-wv-buying-20000-routers-one-room-library.shtmlgift to large incumbent providers, who were about to get an influx of taxpayer money, which would translate into next to nothing in terms of actual broadband deployments. Indeed, we've seen an awful lot of waste happening under the program, which is finally starting to come to light. Recently, the NY Times profiled widespread waste in the program, suggesting that hundreds of millions of dollars are either being wasted or are part of various boondoggles to squeeze cash out of governments:

Nationally, $594 million in spending has been temporarily or permanently halted, 14 percent of the overall program, and the Commerce Department's inspector general has raised questions about the program's ability to adequately monitor spending of the more than 230 grants.

Perhaps nowhere are the details more apparent than in West Virginia. Ars Technica summarizes a recent report that is incredibly damning. The smoking gun? A $20,000 router installed in a one-room library the size of an ordinary trailer. But that's hardly the worst of it. At least that $20,000 router is being used (even if it's under-utilized).

Part of the reason for buying that router, rather than a cheapo one that would have sufficed, was that it would enable other services, including things like VoIP. The state bought 77 of them. Turns out that 75 are just sitting around collecting dust. And none of them can use the VoIP system they need.

Ironically, the routers can't even be used for VoIP in some key cases. The state police already have a VoIP-based phone system, but the new 3945 series routers did not come with "the appropriate Cisco VoIP modules" to work with the system. The state now has to spend another $84,768 to purchase those modules; without them, the state police can't use the routers, only two of which are actually installed and operating. (For those keeping score at home, this means that 75 $20,000 routers are depreciating in a state police warehouse somewhere in West Virginia.)

There's a lot of finger-pointing going on, but when it comes down to it, this is not at all surprising. Throwing billions of dollars into the broadband space with little reasoning or oversight always leads to questionable behavior. So why do we keep doing it? Are there ways the government could spend on infrastructure and have it be powerful. Sure, but the Broadband Plan clearly was not it. And we're only learning about the abuse and waste now, after the money's been spent.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>scam-scam-scam-scamhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20130225/18080522110Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:19:00 PSTShocker: More Than Half The Money Paid Into High Cost Universal Service Fund Not Going To Provide Universal ServiceMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110224/00304013239/shocker-more-than-half-money-paid-into-high-cost-universal-service-fund-not-going-to-provide-universal-service.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110224/00304013239/shocker-more-than-half-money-paid-into-high-cost-universal-service-fund-not-going-to-provide-universal-service.shtmlhuge boondoggle. Basically, we all pay a tax on our phone bills that's supposed to go towards this "universal service fund," which telcos are supposed to use to provide phone service to rural areas. But, as we've been pointing out for over a decade there's little evidence that's what happens. There's almost no oversight of the program, and there are many stories of waste and abuse. The latest, in a long line, is that 59 cents of every dollar that goes to the big telcos from this USF... does not go towards universal service. Instead, the telcos just take that money and do other stuff with it. So, basically, this is a way for the telcos to hide much higher rates through a bogus government "tax," that isn't used for its expressed purpose. That seems like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>how-do-you-spell-boondoggle?https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110224/00304013239Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:37:50 PSTConnected Nation, Created By Telco Lobbyists, Gets Millions In Gov't Funding To Hide Broadband Data From The Gov'tMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091223/1246267491.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091223/1246267491.shtmlnot go to the telco lobbyist boondoggle known as Connected Nation, you knew it had to come eventually. There were cases where Connected Nation was given deals despite being more expensive and having less experience. Or, in the case of Minnesota, the governor just decided the state should go with Connected Nation, before a state task force (appointed by the governor to explore this issue) could even weigh in.

So it should come as no surprise that (right before the holidays) it's been announced that a big chunk of broadband stimulus money is going to Connected Nation (including, of course, in Minnesota). It's a really sweet boondoggle. The operation was set up by telco industry lobbyists, with the claim that it will accurately map broadband penetration (an important factor in figuring out a broadband plan). But, rather than actually mapping the data, and actually revealing the details, Connect Nation basically hides and obfuscates the data in a way that protects the telcos. Aren't you glad that your taxpayer money is now being used to support this effort?

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>well-that's-helpfulhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20091223/1246267491Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:09:25 PDTConnected Nation Bails On Its Home State Of KentuckyMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090910/0320426150.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090910/0320426150.shtmlbizarre story of Connected Nation continues. While the telco-backed broadband mapping organization that politicians all seem gaga over has been able to sweep politicians in Minnesota and Florida off their feet, despite dubious qualifications and/or reviews, Connected Nation has apparently decided to bail out on bidding for the broadband mapping opportunity in Kentucky. This is significant, because Connected Nation is from Kentucky. It was originally Connect Kentucky, and it was the group's supposed "success" in mapping broadband deployments in Kentucky that led to the formation of Connected Nation. In other words, not only does Connected Nation actually have experience in Kentucky (unlike those other states), it should already have the maps. And yet it's suddenly claiming that it can't meet the deadlines laid out in the proposal? Art Brodsky questions the claim:

Is the deadline issue what chased Connected Nation out of Kentucky? Perhaps. There may be other factors at play, including that the Commonwealth wanted the vendor to work with all providers, and two of those significant sectors -- cable and municipals -- are not happy with the telephone-dominated nature of Connected Nation. It's also worth noting that the Kentucky state government, aware of the criticism of Connect Kentucky's efforts, was planning a very strict follow-up procedure for the stimulus mapping program. The Request for Proposals mentioned there would be a third-party verification of "any and all data at any location." That condition would seem to conflict with the general Connect philosophy of controlling access to the information. But we digress.

Given all this, it's worth asking: does the state of Kentucky have the broadband mapping data that Connect Kentucky did for it earlier? Can it give that data to other providers? Or must those providers start from scratch as Connect Kentucky takes its data and goes home?

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>oddity-of-odditieshttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090910/0320426150Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:18:57 PDTKentucky Cable Companies Point Out That Connected Nation Isn't All ThatMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090825/0428055992.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090825/0428055992.shtmlfavored by the telcos -- to handle all of the "broadband mapping" needed for a better national broadband plan. There have been plenty of concerns about Connected Nation's close relationship with the telcos, as well as its proposal which wouldn't give a very fair or accurate picture of actual broadband offerings around the US. But a funny thing just happened. Connected Nation is really based on Connect Kentucky, where this experiment was first run, and the cable companies there have suddenly stood up to oppose Connect Kentucky, questioning its ability to accurately map broadband in the state. Looks like maybe the telcos should have cut the cablecos in on the deal before backing Connected Nation.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>well,-look-at-thathttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090825/0428055992Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:05:11 PDTFCC Apparently Not Very Concerned About Consumer Views On BroadbandMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090814/0324115877.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090814/0324115877.shtmlconcerns with the state of the government's attempts to increase broadband in the US. Karl Bode, over at Broadband Reports has now hit quite a homerun with his analysis of 5 signs of why the broadband plan is in trouble. The whole thing is worth reading, but I wanted to highlight number 5 on the list, because it's a big problem:

The FCC continues to hold "workshops" to discuss the direction and scope of the national broadband plan. They're also recording presentations by all of the FCC's "constituents," and offering consumers instantaneous access to all of the documents being presented at the workshop at the Broadband.gov website. All of this is absolutely great. What's not so great?

There are 51 panelists attending the latest 8 workshops. Out of those 51, there are just five people not directly associated with a company: Dave Burstein, Craig Moffett, George Ford, Victor Frost and Henning Schulzrinne. Moffett is a stock jock who's positions (such as upgrades are unnecessary and consumers should be paying more money) are clearly not going to serve anyone but investors. Ford works at the Phoenix Center, an AT&T-funded "think tank," who's job is to parrot AT&T policy positions.

Of the remaining three, only Burstein, a long-time telecom beat reporter, will likely ask any hard questions -- and then again his job is to get scoops, not to represent the public interest. Zero of the originally scheduled attendees acted as public interest witnesses. After complaints by consumer groups, Dr. Mark Cooper from the Consumer Federation Of America was added at the last second, but the fact that this was an afterthought raises questions about how "transparent and inclusive" this process really is.

This definitely seems like politics as usual. And it's a problem, not just for the FCC, but for the very businesses involved in these discussions. Ignoring consumer will these days is increasingly a suicide pact. The businesses leading this discussion would be well-served to look at what's happening in other industries (music, newspapers) where business execs have been trying to ignore consumers' rights and interests, in the belief that they have some sort of monopoly control over their market. Those things can disappear quickly, and when stripped of such artificial protections, it's amazing how fast the consumers you mistreated will move elsewhere.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>keep-quiet-and-take-what-we-give-youhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090814/0324115877Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:59:00 PDTBroadband Stimulus Plan Keeps Looking Worse And WorseMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090811/0058095834.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090811/0058095834.shtmlquestioned the broadband stimulus plan, which was designed not to actually stimulate broadband so much as it was designed to stimulate jobs by getting people to install broadband in places where people weren't that interested in getting broadband. It had little to do with actually increasing broadband in a meaningful way. For that... all we kept hearing about was about how we'd also get some magical broadband mapping solution with hundreds of millions of dollars given to Connected Nation -- an organization favored by incumbents, because it lets them retain control over the mapping process. And, indeed, it looks like the broadband stimulus remains something of a boondoggle. As Stacey Higginbotham notes, there's "no map for success," and the plan itself has been watered down. The mapping plan has been cut back to appease telcos, and the focus of stimulus money will go to those not served by broadband, rather than those underserved by broadband. Installing broadband in far off places where there's no current access may sound good, but those are sparsely populated areas where broadband doesn't do all that much. Meanwhile, folks in densely populated regions have only one or two very slow options. Focusing on boosting broadband competition and speeds in those areas would seem to have a lot more bang for the buck... but doesn't seem to be in the current plans.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>that's-not-stimulushttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090811/0058095834Wed, 8 Jul 2009 18:52:04 PDTExploring The Connected Nation BoondoggleMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090708/0016175481.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090708/0016175481.shtmltelco boondoggle designed to get gov't money and allow telcos to avoid really providing broadband data. For some reason, politicians are absolutely in love with Connected Nation, though. When I was in Washington DC recently, they talked about it like it was the solution to our country's broadband needs. That seems quite bizarre no matter how you look at it. First, it's just a "mapping" organization and it's run by the telcos themselves, allowing them to continue to fudge the data to make markets look a lot more competitive than they really are. And, yet, thanks to all the political love that goes out to Connected Nation, it looks like they're about to get hundreds of millions of dollars in broadband stimulus money.

Broadband Reports points us to Art Brodsky's "final warning" about Connected Nation, before we hand over tons of tax money to it, and it's not pretty. He notes the ridiculousness of politicians complaining that the gov't agency in charge of getting accurate maps has failed (solely because the telcos refuse to give them the data) and deciding the best "response" to this is to simply hand the whole project (and lots of money) over to the telcos who refused to give the data up in the first place:

The fruit is not the product of the state agency, however. Faison used his announcement to criticize e-NC: "Until now, we have not had a map showing street address availability of broadband. e-NC has generated maps based on information disclosed by the providers which are based on the average number of customers with broadband access in a wire center. Unfortunately, information provided in this fashion does not allow you to see where broadband is and where it is not, it does not allow you to see the holes in the Swiss cheese, and depending on the area the hole may be larger than the cheese."

Note the circular logic here. Faison and other members of his committee are criticizing e-NC for their maps, which were based on information supplied, or not, as it were, by the telecom industry. The state agency has been hampered by AT&T's unwillingness to supply broadband data and its insistence on a very restrictive non-disclosure agreement for information the company did supply.

Instead of pushing the industry to stop stonewalling e-NC, Faison and the others trashed e-NC's work and commended the work of – AT&T, the very company that hamstrung e-NC. Here is Faison’s praise for the industry: "In the face of legislation recommended by the Committee which would have required the providers to disclose precise information to the Legislature for our staff to generate a detailed map of availability, the providers have come together and collectively decided to provide the information through Connected Nation, to not only provide the "street address" map but also to make the map both accessible and interactive through the internet. Special recognition should be given to AT&T, Embarq, Sprint, Time Warner Cable, The Cable Association, the Telephone Co-op association, and Alltel for their work on this matter."

Brodsky goes on to show a Connected Nation map, and note how useless it is in actually giving granular data, and then compares it to another group's map, with much greater detail. I certainly agree that better data is important, but I have to admit I'm still somewhat confused as to what real problem we end up solving with mapping alone? Yes, it will give us more data to figure out just what the current situation is when it comes to broadband deployment, but that's got little to do with actually improving our broadband infrastructure.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]>sneaky,-sneakyhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090708/0016175481Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:16:51 PDTEU Gives France Permission To Waste Even More Money On Mythical Google KillerMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080311/175205502.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080311/175205502.shtmlfunnelling tons of money into private companies hoping they would somehow create a "Google-killer." There were no plans. There was no website. There was no technology. There was merely a bunch of random companies all saying they would do something vague, if only the government gave them money. Well, the EU has now granted the wish, giving France permission to distribute $152 million to a bunch of companies. Note, again, that they're not giving this money to some startup that thinks it has a Google killer. In fact, everyone admits that the various companies involved all have divergent interests. In other words, this money is going into a black hole where it will be spent on whatever each company wants to spend it on. The idea that a Google-killer will emerge is laughable. Just the fact that it's been many years since the project was first proposed and they're just getting around to funding it now should give you a sense of how backwards this plan is. You don't create a Google-killer by announcing such plans, getting a bunch of big companies to line up for a handout and then taking years to actually give out way more money than is needed.